Maths

Vision

At Kennall Vale School, we endeavour to help all children achieve their potential in mathematics. We challenge and support them to grapple with new concepts, tackle tricky problems and learn from their mistakes in a positive way. We believe that with the right tools anyone can be successful in maths. Maths is a language, it just uses numbers and symbols instead of letters and punctuation. Like any language, being fluent is the aim of the game.

• Children that can manipulate numbers and calculations confidently will be more efficient mathematicians. The idea that only children born with a mathematical disposition can be fluent in maths is simply not true.
• Children who learn their number facts, and later times tables, until their recall is automatic give themselves a strong foundation to build new ideas on.
• Understanding place value is crucially important and each year we recap and challenge the children's grasp on this key concept.  
• Children are given the time and space to reason mathematically, often through dialogue and collaboration.
• We encourage children to learn different problem solving skills and mechanisms. Thinking systematically, or algorithmically is often the most effective way to solve a problem but we also encourage creativity and the use of shortcuts in their effort to become more efficient.

We set high expectations in all our subjects, maths is no exception. We strive to foster a learning environment where children know where to find support as well as how to tackle mistakes, seeing them as opportunities for learning rather than something they just 'can't do'. Perseverance and resilience are key in maths as they are in tackling all challenges and we passionately support children in developing these key character traits.

Intent

At Kennall Vale School, we are committed to giving children the best possible start in life. Chances of success are maximised if a child develops a deep, lasting understanding of mathematical procedures and concepts. We see maths as a key language for life that helps children link together scientific ideas and engage and connect with the world around them. We aim to generate a positive attitude to maths and nurture a curious and critical mind-set. We want our children to head into KS3 with a solid foundation including; a good understanding of place value, powers of ten and the ability to quickly and efficiently recall key number facts including bonds and multiplication facts. Whilst it is important to memorise number facts, we focus equally on their application and encourage efficient number manipulation and fluency.

Implementation

Every child at KVS, in KS1 and KS2 will have a structured daily maths lesson lasting between 45 and 60 minutes. In our EYFS class mathematical skills and concepts are taught through focussed group activities, including mastering number and developed through play and ever-present in continuous provision. We deliver high quality teaching using a bespoke, consistent approach that has been honed in the Maths Hub mastery program and supported by local cluster as well as TPAT maths hub groups. We aim to ensure all children master the concepts being taught, with an emphasis on place value, combined with a repertoire of key skills including quick recall of number facts, bonds and times-tables. Lessons are broken down into small connected steps that gradually reveal the concept in question providing access for all children and leading to a greater understanding. This approach gives children more opportunities to view and explore the concept in a variety of contexts. The sequence of lessons as well as the progression within a session itself, is carefully designed in order to draw attention to the mathematical relationships and structures linking the learning point to the fundamental concept being explored. We follow the White Rose maths small steps to ensure coverage but have tailored our delivery in order to provide the best possible service to the children at KVS. Each medium term sequence of learning is broken down into pyramid steps that clearly show how each stage builds on previous learning. Each lesson is then broken down into 4 sections, quick-fire number facts to support fluency and retention of number facts, recapping prior learning, new learning which is led by the teacher and involves both direct teaching and guided practise followed by challenge and challenge 2 where the children are encouraged to use the skills learned that lesson as well as previously mastered concepts in order to solve more complex problems. We constantly improve and adapt our teaching and lesson materials in order to maintain our very high standards. We use concrete resources, carefully selected manipulatives and pictorial representations, where appropriate, in order to support the understanding of a new concept or to support embedding. Manipulatives can also be used to effectively draw attention to a misconception. As children become more confident they will explore these concepts in greater depth and use a range of reasoning and problem solving activities and effective questioning to develop a secure understanding. As a school we have really embraced the teaching for mastery approach developing our practise with consideration to the 5 big ideas. Alongside maths lessons we use the ‘Mastering number’ program in our EYFS and KS1 classes to further support the children’s ability to manipulate number and spot patterns.

Impact

Teachers plan and deliver lessons to address the needs of all pupils with the use of scaffolding, skillful questioning, rapid marking and intervention and carefully designed enriching activities. Consistency from EYFS to Year 6 is vital, teachers refer to our robust and supportive calculation policy, tailor made to fit the needs of the pupil’s at KVS. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged by being offered rich and sophisticated questions and problems before any acceleration to new content. From EYFS children are supported in developing mathematical reasoning and given opportunities to use shortcuts and problem solving efficiently. We encourage children to explore conjectures and tackle open ended problems, often linked to real world scenarios, which give context to mathematical procedures.  We believe the key to success, in early maths, is a strong foundation understanding of place value coupled with the ability to quickly and accurately recall number facts including times tables. We supplement our teaching of the mastery curriculum with daily opportunities to hone these key skills.